Eat Skinny, Be Skinny: Guilt-Free Cocktails!

It’s summertime, and the livin’s easy my friends. The weather is warm and the sun is shining, so what better way to celebrate the lazy days of summer than with a nice, cool cocktail? I’m a big fan of the cocktail, and until recently, I have shunned them from my normal routine due to the fact they are high in sugar, fat and calories and can derail your diet faster than you can drink them. However, after doing some research I found some delicious, cool as the summer breeze cocktails that are low in calories and sugar but full in flavor. So kick your guilt to the curb and grab one of these drinks to cool you off during the hot summer months. [Add a cute little umbrella for extra pizzazz!]

Mojito

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

1 packet Splenda

4-5 fresh mint leaves

1 ½ oz light rum

2 oz club soda

glass of ice cubes

Pour lime juice into glass. Add mint and Splenda, stir until dissolved. Add rum and ice cubes, followed by club soda. Garnish with a fresh spring of mint.

Nutrition Facts: 172 calories

Bellini

3/4 small flute champagne

1/4 flute peach puree

Spoon peach puree in bottom of champagne flute. Fill to top with champagne.

Nutritional Facts: 95 calories, .5 gm. fat

Bloody Mary

22 ounces reduced-sodium V8

1 teaspoon horseradish

1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon lemon juice

10 dashes

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

3 ounces vodka, optional

Ice cubes

Preparation

Shake V8, horseradish, Worcestershire sauce, lemon juice, Tabasco, pepper and vodka, if using, in a large glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Fill two tall glasses with ice and divide the Bloody Mary between the glasses. Garnish with olives, celery or nothing!

Basic Low Calorie Margarita Recipe

6 ounces of a diet lemon-lime soda

1-2 shots tequila

1/2 teaspoon sugar-free lemonade mix

1 1/2 ounce lime juice

Citrus wedges for fun garnish (limes, lemons, oranges)

Directions:

Blend ingredients together in a blender with 1 & 1/2 cups ice. Add more or less depending on how thick you like your frozen margarita. You can also serve this mixture on the rocks if you don’t have a blender or do not care for frozen margaritas.

Tips:

Use Diet Sprite or Diet lemonade for the best tasting margarita!

Nutritional Facts: 200 calories

Not a fan of any of these? You can easily make your favorite drink low-calorie and low sugar by switching up your mixers or your alcohol. Alcohols that are lighter in color [vodka, gin, light rum and light tequila] always tend to have the lowest calorie count.

This list, compiled by WebMD, lists the best mixer choices for someone calorie and diet conscious.

Diet soda or diet tonic: 0 calories

Orange juice (6 oz): 84 calories

Cranberry juice cocktail (8 oz): 136 calories

Light orange juice (8 oz): 50 calories

Light cranberry juice (8 oz): 40 calories

Light lemonade (8 oz): 5 calories

Coffee, tea: 0 calories

Baja Bob’s sugar-free margarita or sweet ‘n’ sour mix: 0 calories

Lemon or lime juice (1/2 oz): 10 calories

DaVinci or Torani’s sugar-free syrups: 0

Grab a drink and enjoy the dog days of summer, with no remorse! [Until the next day, that is :)]